Readers Respond to ‘Threatened and Endangered’ List

Who knew there are so many Capri fans out there? Hagerty’s list of “threatened, endangered and extinct” cars generated a wide range of responses from readers – some asking about their own vanishing favorites, others taking question with our methodology, and others with some great stories about the cars we mentioned.

A lot of readers had their own cars to add to the lists. Here are our comments (in italics) and you can check for a new list next month:
• Mid 1980s Plymouth Sapporo: You got us there. Certainly one that should be on at least the threatened list although we did spot one at the Concours d’LeMons last August complete with talking dash.
• 1949-51 Nash Airlfytes: Hagerty insures enough of these interesting American independents to keep them off the Threatened list.
• 1973 AMC Gremlin X: Ditto the Gremlin. The recent “nerd car” fad brought Gremlins out of the woodwork.
• 1978 Datsun F10: Another possible addition to the Extinct list. We can’t remember the last time we saw an example of this hunch-backed little coupe that was known as the “Cherry” in Japan.
• 1969-73 Opel GT and Manta: Both Opels have legions of fans, particularly for the baby-Corvette GT. The Manta while produced in far larger numbers is today much scarcer, but enough of these BMW 2002 competitors survive in Hagerty’s book to keep them off the Endangered list.
• 1960 Simca Aronde/ Plein Ceil Coupe: You’ve got us here, none of us can remember the last time we saw a Simca of any flavor outside of France. The one caveat to the list, however, was that the car in question had to have sold in large numbers when new. Certainly the Simca Aronde was rare in the US even back in the day.
• 1971 and 1972 Honda 600 sedan and coupe: While not exactly common as weeds, just the number of these tiny early Hondas on display in Honda showrooms across the country will keep them off the Threatened list.
• 1977 RX3: Another good catch. At least as rare today as the RX2.